November 2011

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Shane Watson - 6: A real mixed bag: failed twice with the bat, bowled full and straight to wreak havoc after lunch on day two and then dropped Amla early on the final morning. If Australia see him as an all-rounder then he must drop down the order.

Phil Hughes - 4: A pair of nine's, which in the context of this Test wasn't too bad but how he can picked ahead of Simon Katich beggars belief.

Shaun Marsh - 6: Showed real doggedness first time around in his key partnership with Clarke and then got just what you wouldn't want with a bad back in the second innings - one that kept low. None of the blame for this fiasco should be laid at the feet of Marsh.

Ricky Ponting - 2: Forget the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, Ponting's fall from grace seems to be even more dramatic. He missed two straight ones to be leg before in both innings and John Inverarity has his first really big decision to make.

Michael Clarke - 8: The skipper didn't deserve to be presiding over this disaster after hitting the best hundred of his career on day one. Fronted up with bravery and honesty in the post-match conferences.

Mike Hussey - 1: Just one run and his loose shot to be dismissed in the second innings was not becoming of such an experienced player. Dropping Amla off the final ball of the second day capped off a poor match for Mr Cricket.

Brad Haddin - 0: If prison sentences were handed out for reckless and wanton batting then Haddin would surely be incarcerated for his diabolical dismissal in the second innings. Matthew Wade or Tim Paine can expect to be handed the gloves very soon.

Mitchell Johnson - 2: So the nine wickets in the warm-up match proved a false dawn as in a match dominated by bowlers, Johnson only had the consolation wicket of Amla in 16 overs that cost 87 runs. How long can Australia afford to persevere with him?

Ryan Harris - 6: Bowled wonderfully well in the first innings in conditions and a pitch that suited him, but was disappointing second time around when he offered plenty of opportunities to Amla and Smith to reach the boundary.

Peter Siddle - 5: There's no doubting Siddle's competitiveness as ably demonstrated by his batting in both innings, but question marks over his quality as a Test match bowler still exist and were not answered here.

Nathan Lyon - 4: Only got three overs with the ball, but his contribution in saving Australia from total ignominy and the lowest ever Test score will never be forgotten. Will hope that this is the first and last time he top scores in a Test innings.

Graeme Smith - 9: Guided his side to victory with his fourth hundred in a successful fourth innings run chase - the first man to do so in Test history.

Jacques Rudolph - 5: His first Test in five years and he made two appearances in the middle on the same day. Made 18 and 14, but he can't be judged on this crazy game.

Hashim Amla - 8: Amla is to batting what Beethoven and Sinatra are to music, Shakespeare to writing and Olivier to acting. Was given two lives and made the Australians pay with a sublime hundred. Bradman must have been some batsman to have had a career average over twice that of Amla.

Jacques Kallis - 3: Undone on review by Bowden and bowled too short on day one, but at least he was there when the winning runs were scored.

AB de Villiers - 3: Another to fall victim to the merciless Bowden on review as the South African first innings collapse reached epic proportions.

Ashwell Prince - 2: Missed a full and straight one from Watson to register an unwelcome golden duck.

Mark Boucher - 4: In all the hullabaloo, it was easy to forget that Boucher registered his 500th Test catch when he snared Hughes in the first innings.

Vernon Philander - 9: A stunning debut by anyone's standards even if conditions helped. Put the ball in the right place and was rewarded with eight wickets.

Dale Steyn - 9: Bowled magnificently on day one to show that he is the best bowler in the world today by a country mile: hostility, pace, movement and aggression, Steyn has it all.

Morne Morkel - 8: Bowled too full on day one, but his radar was well and truly functioning on day two as he and Philander inspired the mother of all collapses.

Imran Tahir - 4: Struggled against the quick feet of Clarke, but this was not a pitch or a match for a leg-spinner to make his Test bow.

Friday, November 11, 2011

If Michael Clarke thought life had been too unpredictable during his time with Lara Bingle, then he may wish to reconsider after an extraordinary second day in the 1st Test at Newlands yesterday.

It was the day that Crowded House could have reformed and conceivably reprised one of their biggest hits with a slight twist – forget four seasons, this was four innings in one day.

It should have been so different. After Clarke’s brilliant 151 (an innings that has now acquired the value of Italy’s national debt after what followed) had steered his side to 284 and Shane Watson had dismantled the hosts for 96, Australia’s advantage should have been impregnable.

But just as against Pakistan at Headingley in 2010 and England in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG five days later, Australia were found wanting in seam and swing friendly conditions.

This was the third time that Australia had been bowled out for less than 100 in 12 Tests. Prior to that they had only failed to make three figures once in 277 Tests stretching back 26 years. This batting is more brittle than the most severe case of osteoporosis.

Let’s make it clear this was nothing to do with the pitch. Sure Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn put the ball in the right place, and yes it nibbled around a bit, but the fault lies squarely with the batsmen.

Watson and Ricky Ponting (whose decline has now reached epic proportions) missed straight deliveries to be leg before, Mike Hussey played a loose shot and as for Brad Haddin, well the wicketkeeper could conceivably be charged with dereliction of duty after a brainless charge down the wicket to Philander when his side were already 18/5.

A clearly stunned Clarke fronted up bravely at the close of play and said that the batting had been “disgraceful” – he couldn’t really have said anything else.

47 all out after being 21/9, a Test thrown away and severe question marks over the future of certain players like Haddin – the pile in John Inverarity’s in-tray has just got a whole heap bigger.

Perhaps the biggest compliment we can give him is that he would have been good enough to get into the West Indian pace attack of the 1970s and 1980s.

Steyn's full armoury was on show at Newlands today as he swung the ball both ways with express pace and real menace.

He likes his duels in Cape Town too. Two years ago it was Paul Collingwood as Steyn delivered a staggeringly good spell with the new ball that even Collingwood in full match-saving mode could not fathom how he didn't lose his wicket.

Today it was Michael Clarke, as Steyn subjected him to a torrid start: peppering him with the short-ball, troubling the Australian captain with every delivery and firing off several volleys of abuse in Clarke's direction.

It was riveting and an example of Test cricket at its absolute best. And so was Clarke's response as he first fended Steyn off and then produced the finest Test innings and hundred he ever has or ever will make.

Steyn's stupendous bowling and Clarke's splendid response makes it an even bigger travesty that this is a 'series' comprising just two Test matches.

Despite having a packed schedule of manicures, botox, fake tan applications and teeth whitening not to mention his very public relationship with Elizabeth Hurley, Shane Warne announced yesterday that he was coming out of retirement to play for Melbourne Stars in the forthcoming Big Bash League.

The move was hardly a surprise but given that he only retired from cricket just a few months ago, Warne's seeming quest to emulate Frank Sinatra as the comeback king has gathered more pace.

Warne claimed that his motivation for coming out was not money, but let's face it Hurley is a pretty expensive girl to keep and Warne's monthly grooming costs alone must equal the GDP of a mid-sized African country.

Hurley has built a career on being paid unfeasibly large sums of cash for not doing a lot and it seems that she has now managed to transfer this ability to her fiancé.

Rumours that the body of Don Bradman was being exhumed so that he could turn out for the Adelaide Strikers were denied by a BBL spokesman last night.

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

With a bonanza of Test cricket being played this month one might think the premium format of the game was in good health. India and West Indies are playing out a thrilling Test in Delhi, Pakistan have just beaten Sri Lanka and Australia play South Africa tomorrow.

But as we wrote recently, Test cricket is under serious threat even in its strongest base where the ECB have only provisioned a three Test series with South Africa next summer. With the increse of two match series (how can just two Tests constitute a 'series'?), and the ICC's much trumpeted World Test Championship facing postponement these are challenging times for the ultimate format of the game.

Which leads us to Testing Times, a well-organised campaign that has the long-term goal of persuading the ICC to ensure the protection of Test cricket by granting it greater emphasis in global schedules.

That's some manifesto, but what can we all do to help? Well, the short-term aim is to persuade the ECB to add an extra Test to next summer’s key aformentioned clash between the world’s top two nations, England and South Africa.

It's easy to help - just sign the Petition: the target is to get 28,000 people – the number of people who would fill Lord’s Cricket Ground (clever eh?) – to sign the petition to show that people care about Test match cricket.

Testing Times also has Facebook and Twitter accounts, and are always grateful for a retweet to spread the word.

Monday, November 07, 2011

In a dark week for cricket in Pakistan some light relief has come from an unlikely and surprising source.

According to The Sunday Times, Kamran Akmal is seeking explanations through his lawyers as to why he hasn't been picked by Pakistan since the end of the World Cup in any form of the game.

What might seem obvious to everyone else is clearly not so to the butter-fingered blunderer.

So, to help the Pakistan Cricket Board in their time of need, here are just a few reasons why Akmal is unlikely to wear the national colours again:

Akmal has to be the worst wicketkeeper to ever play international cricket - he drops more than he catches and his performances put the iron into the derogatory phrase iron gloves.

He doesn't even have the excuse that his batting hides his inadequacies with the bat. He may have a passable career Test average of 31, but that slips to just 15 when in the more challenging batting environments in Australia, England and South Africa.

Sydney 2010 - we suggest that the PCB sends Akmal a video of the match where his blunders snatched defeat from the jaws of certain victory.

We're not sure if Akmal has noticed, but Pakistan seem to be doing quite well without him, thank you very much.

Perhaps the PCB could explain the concept of brotherly love to Akmal given that the man who has replaced him in the Pakistan side is his sibling Adnan.

It may have slipped Akmal's notice, but his name cropped up frequently during the spot-fixing trial. Perhaps the PCB could get its lawyers to respond to Akmal's lawyers with some rather searching questions?

Let's face it, it hasn't been a good few days for Pakistan's devoted cricket followers with three of the team's best players now spending time at Her Majesty's pleasure and allegations abound about the involvement of other players in spot and even match-fixing.

But all is not woe as our latest piece for All Out Cricket explains. Indeed, under the unassuming captaincy of the dogged Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan increasingly look like being a tough proposition for England when the two teams clash in the United Arab Emirates in the New Year.

Friday, November 04, 2011

Now that Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer have lost their liberty as well as their livelihood for their act of folly, attention must now surely turn to the ICC and their much maligned Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU).

It took a newspaper sting to expose that international cricketers were prepared to transgress the line and the English justice system to send a clear deterrent to any others considering to enrich themselves.

Despite thisSir Ronnie Flannagan, the head of the ACSU said yesterday "It (corruption) is not rampant in the world of cricket". That maybe so (at least we hope it is), but this scandal means that the ICC and ACSU need to take further action now:

The tip of the iceberg?

Was this a case of opportunism by a greedy agent and naive players, or was this the tip of an evil smelling iceberg? There was enough evidence in the trial about other Pakistan cricketers and other matches. The ACSU needs to investigate these forthwith and the PCB need to be compelled to assist.

Life bans - the ultimate sanction

The ICC needs to provide a clear statement that it will no longer differentiate between spot-fixing and match-fixing - life bans should henceforth apply for both. In order to provide a small window for those already involved in fixing to extricate themselves (or even better come clean), this ultimate sanction would apply for any offences committed after 1 January 2012.

Suspend and investigate

The ICC also needs to spell out clearly that where there is enough evidence to warrant an investigation, the player(s) concerned will be suspended immediately pending the outcome.

Increased powers

The ACSU should have its investigative powers increased: they need the same access to phone and email records as the police did in the case of Butt, Asif and Amir. If this needs to be done with the co-operation of local cricket boards and police, so be it. Get the terms of agreement with the relevant authorities in place now.

Domestic cricket

The individual cricket boards need to follow suit and be compelled to apply the same sanctions for players caught fixing in domestic matches - this is not a problem restricted to the Pakistan side or international cricket.

If the ICC had had all the above in place, then Butt, Asif and Amir would have been clear in the knowledge that being caught would have led to a life ban from cricket - that should be the ultimate sanction for a player not jail. But the lack of this ultimate sanction, meant an example had to be made of Butt and Asif at least.

All in all, it has been a bad episode for cricket, but it is one that the ICC and other cricket authorities need to learn from to ensure that this stain on the game is removed forthwith.

Thursday, November 03, 2011

We live in a pretty unforgiving society, but as the extraordinary events unfolded at Southwark Court yesterday afternoon one couldn’t help but feel increasing compassion towards Mohammad Aamer.

Whilst the guilty plea and subsequent plea for clemency from Mazhar Majeed could be attributed to the actions of a drowning man in a particularly stormy sea, the heartfelt apology of Aamer – in stark contrast to the complete lack of remorse shown by his co-defendants, made us hope that the judge is in a forgiving mood when it comes to sentencing the 19 year old.

Aamer’s decision to admit his guilt before the trial, the fact that he entered what appears to have been an already corrupt environment at the impressionable age of 17 and the genuine remorse articulated on his behalf by his lawyer in court yesterday places Aamer in a very different position to that of Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif.

Whilst it is hard to believe that the two no-balls he delivered upon demand were his first transgressions, the amateurish way in which he delivered them and tried to cover-up his crime as well as how far his front foot was over the crease at Lord’s suggests that he was hardly a serial offender.

Butt and Asif deserve what is coming to them for continuing to deny their involvement and for the complete lack of responsibility and remorse shown in their pleas to the judge yesterday, but Aamer had admitted his guilt, his shame and his regret for what happened. Far better to give him a second chance and once he has served his ban, readmit him to cricket’s family as an example of rehabilitation and a warning to others.

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Being cricket obsessives and regarding The Clash as the best rock group ever, anything that combines the words 'Punk' and 'Cricket' is bound to grab our attention at The Reverse Sweep. Throw in a bit of English humour with an amusing play on words and voila, you have a winning combination.

Therefore the t-shirts and other clothing apparel made by the guys at Punk Cricket gets a big tick in the box from us.

We were sent a 'Bodyline - Ashes Winners 1932' t-shirt in striking red, which went down very well given its imaginative design, heavyweight material and the fact that it contained the hallowed names of Jardine, Verity, Larwood, Voce, Hammond, Sutcliffe et al.

The 'Viv Richards Master Blaster' went down just as well and has an original sunflower and maroon colour scheme and depicts the greatest batsman we've ever seen in the flesh with that familiar SS Jumbo in his powerful hands.

We get asked to do a fair amount of advertorials (or should that be blogvertorials?) at the Reverse Sweep, but Punk Cricket was one that we couldn't turn down because we just think that they are damn good.

The guilty verdicts handed out yesterday to Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif sadly came as no surprise given the evidence and the fact that Mohammad Aamer had already entered a guilty plea at the outset of the trial.

But were the deliberate no-balls that eventually led to the trio potentially losing their liberty as well as their livelihood just the tip of a particularly foul smelling iceberg?

Whilst most of the claims of Mazhar Majeed made to the undercover News of the World reporter can perhaps be dismissed as fantasy, one in particular demands further investigation by the authorities.

Majeed also claimed to have Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz and Imran Farhat under his control, which if so prompts a number of questions about that England-Pakistan series alone.

For instance, Pakistan were bowled out for scores of 80, 72 and 74 over the four Test series. Was this down as it seemed at the time to England's masterful bowling attack or was there something far more sinister afoot?

Then taking each of the players in turn. Was Kamran Akmal's atrocious performance behind the stumps at Trent Bridge (and Sydney the same year for that matter) and pair in the same match simply evidence that he was the worst keeper in the history of international cricket? Or was he merely following orders?

Did brother Umar deliberately run himself out in the first innings at The Oval? What about Imran Farhat's bizarre 24 ball duck at Edgbaston? And then there was Wahab Riaz's five no-balls on debut at The Oval where like Aamer at Lord's, he starred with the ball.

The first reaction to the guilty verdicts is to ask what else was dirty. All the incidents referred to above could have been something or nothing. What are we to believe? This is the epitaph of Butt, Asif and Aamer's wanton selfish act.

People laughed at the match-fixing claims of Yasir Hameed and Zulqarnain Haider that followed in the wake of the News of the World bombshell. How are we to view these now?

To their credit, the current Pakistan side have recovered well from the stain that was visited upon them by the spot-fixing scandal of Lord's 2010. Under Misbah-ul-Haq's astute and steady leadership, their Test performances have been consistent and improving.

Slowly, but surely all of the seven players named by Majeed have been dropped from the Test side. Maybe this is a case of the PCB quietly repairing the damage that was wrought? Maybe it isn't. They uncovered deliberate acts of underperformance from certain members of the squad that toured Australia in 2009/10. Were these players just trying to get their favourite appointed as captain or were they being rewarded by unknown others?

Whilst we should perhaps take some satisfaction from the fact that Butt will now become Butt by name and Butthole by nature should he receive a custodial sentence, all cricket fans lost something in yesterday's verdict - especially the devoted and fanatical followers of Pakistan.

Prison may well be the safest place for Butt and his errant former new ball pair.

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Most of the reaction to the announcement of the Indian squad for the 1st Test against West Indies centres around the absence of Harbhajan Singh, who has been left out of the squad following injury and a disappointing tour of England.

We are not surprised that Harbhajan has been left - he was shockingly bad at Lord's and Trent Bridge and his decline as a bowler has been going on for some time, so it makes perfect sense to give R Ashwin - so impressive in the recent series with England - a chance to cement a place in the Test side.

We were surprised to see that Praveen Kumar has been left out though. Kumar was India's lone star with the ball in England and troubled most of the top order despite his lack of pace with his immaculate control and ability to move the ball either way.

We can only presume that he is carrying an injury - although the fact that he played the day after in the T20 game against England suggests he is fine.

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